Can 'Magic Mike XXL' terminate 'Genisys'?

'Magic Mike XXL' is currently narrowly ahead of 'Terminator Genisys' at the holiday weekend box office. Both movies are looking to take down 'Jurassic World,' which has become a box office behemoth.

|
Melinda Sue Gordon/Paramount Pictures/AP
'Terminator Genisys' is the newest in the 'Terminator' series.

"Magic Mike XXL" is narrowly ahead of "Terminator Genisys" at the holiday weekend box office.

The Channing Tatum sequel earned $9.3 million on its opening day Wednesday, according to Warner Bros. Paramount Pictures said that its reboot of the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi franchise, "Terminator Genisys," opened with $8.9 million Wednesday.

Both sums include about $2 million in Tuesday night showings.

The two films are vying to unseat "Jurassic World" over the July Fourth weekend. With the holiday falling on Saturday, studios aren't getting the usual long-weekend boost. But "Magic Mike XXL" and "Terminator Genisys" both opened early to rope in more moviegoers.

The early figures suggest a very close race for the box-office lead. But it also means a July Fourth weekend lacking major fireworks at the multiplex. Both films will likely make in the neighborhood of $40 million from Wednesday through Sunday.

Such a result is dramatically better for "Magic Mike XXL," which was made for only about $15 million. "Terminator Genisys," on the other hand, was made for about $155 million and appears headed for disappointment.

Critics have slammed the fifth installment in the franchise, which returns Schwarzenegger to his most famous role after his absence in 2009's "Terminator Salvation." But at its current rate, "Genisys" won't come close to matching the five-day opening of $65.3 million for "Salvation."

The two new wide releases may struggle to surpass the strong holdovers of "Jurassic World" and Pixar's "Inside Out" over the weekend.

Still, the four movies should at least mean a big improvement over last year's July Fourth. Last summer's Independence Day weekend, featuring Melissa McCarthy's "Tammy" and the sci-fi adventure "Earth to Echo," was Hollywood's worst in decades.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Can 'Magic Mike XXL' terminate 'Genisys'?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2015/0704/Can-Magic-Mike-XXL-terminate-Genisys
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe